Duo-Art

Life is uncertain enjoy yourself NOW.

goldie

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Im not a lawyer but I am a senior contract manager with a large company. Going to court is something to be avoided at all costs, particularly where you are relying on something like interpretation of the Sale of Goods Act. Basically, the SoGA gives you right of redress over defective goods - your complaint is a contractual matter as your goods are not late in delivery, or defective.
If you did go to court the judge will only decide on what is fair and equable redress for your "loss". If MB make you a reasonable offer you don't have a hope in hell!

Do not fall out with MBUK - you might need them to be reasonable with you at some later date. Stand your ground, be assertive and polite, do not be aggressive and see what they offer. Life is one huge compromise and it's took me 57 tears to realise it - be a quicker learner than me!

Duo-Art

I agree with goldie. Your dealer made a mistake. Better to be on friendly terms with them than to have them against you.

mcat

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Mercedes Brooklands have pulled some stops out to solve the problem and this is the choice I now have:

1. Forget factory pickup and take the car in Sept. As a good will gesture i have asked for first major (B) service for free. So far they have agreed to only 50% of the cost of the service. On top of that they have thrown in 1 hr in an AMG around their track. I don't really count this last as it is free anyway when you ask for a test drive at Mercedes Benz World.

2. Alternatively, they have managed to secure a build slot for Sept 18th delivery on which i can do factory pick up. As I need to take my current SLK 350 back to Switzerland to sell on Aug 24th they will let me have a small (smart?) loan car until I collect my new one. I am not sure how the insurance works out on this as normally for loan cars they charge £12 per day which for 3+ weeks will be cost prohibitive.

I am torn between the two. The problem with option two is that my whole order was based around a pick up in Aug to make a proper holiday of it. In Sept work is picking up for both my wife and I which would mean we would have to dash back more quickly rather than a longer, more leisurely drive back across Europe. This in turn means longer hours in the car which for my wife would be difficult as she is still recovering from a broken spine at Christmas. Also, the weather is not a good as it is in Aug (although that doesn't count for much these days!) The offer of the loan car does take away the problem of not having a car in Sept which has made me think twice.

As Alroumi said earlier, it is all about where my head is. Orginally i was really looking forward to doing the pick up in Aug. When I was told the bad news i was initially seething as you can tell from my first post. After sleeping on it over night i had accepted the fact that the pick up was just not going to happen so instead my head had already switched to flying to somewhere on holiday the last week in Aug instead and collecting the car from the dealer on the 1st Sept when I get back with some sort of good will thrown in as DanSlk suggested.

Now they have thrown me this wobbler of a choice. Neither one is ideal but neither is that bad either. If I can get the full service cost out of them I think I am more inclined to go for option one as, unless I can make a make a proper holiday out of the trip back, it just ain't worth the hassle.

I need some help from you guys on this. Give me your thoughts. Do you think i will be able to push for the full service cost? Or is the factory pick up such a great experience that it would outweigh the delay and dash back?

Help me please!! I need to give them my answer on Thursday.

phatchink

I'd say go with the loaner, you'll have plenty of time to enjoy the car in the near future.

DansSlk

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Push for the full service and take the car you have mate.

The factory tour is nice but at the end of the day its a factory where they build car's and the clue is in factory, no way is it worth the extra stress.

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etyu

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Same opinion as Dan. BTW, how much is a first full service worth in the UK? (It's around $210 in the US for Service A, the First 1000-3000 milrs is a freebie so this doesn't count).

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Eddy

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Pewter/Beige, PIII package, Airscarf, Hands-Free Communication System, Lighting package
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mcat

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I asked for the service B cost which is worth about £500 here. The way I put it to them is that the actual cost to them is small as the labour is a sunk fixed cost anyway and this way they can keep the cost within the dealership. It also gets me back into their dealership in about 2 years time years time by which time I would be looking to order the r172 model.

The alternative with only half the service cost covered is that is that when I come to collect the car, instead of it being a joyous occasion, it will just be an unhappy event to me (not an image MB would want) and when I do return in 2 years time the half price service will just be a bad reminder and the likelihood of buying a new car from them would then be zero.

Wimbledon_SLK

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Hiya,

very interesting... I also ordered my beast from Brooklands and the agent who sold the car to me also left left (now selling minis in Croydon!).. so probably he is the same guy who ordered your car initially. Fortunately my pick up was acknowledged, but I must say this specific agent has known me for years and was fully aware I would have wanted a personal collection.

The quick delivery of your car is not surprising. They sell many SLks at Brooklands so they pre order a number of cars with typical specifications that they leave on stand by and then tailor to the specific customer that eventually comes along. This I was told by the main man there. My car took 2 months to be ready for collection.


They screwed up badly with you, however, in your situation I would accept some freebies and keep the car. After all Bremen is 6-8 hours drive from London. If you wanted you could drive there see the factory and come back... and get them to pay for the petrol (return trip) and hotels... this way you would get an extra couple of days holiday at their expenses.

ciao

P

bjohnson

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[quote=mcat;78374]Okay.
As far as I am concerned, factory pickup was a key part of the order. In my paperwork I have "factory pickup offered: Yes". During the sales process this was made very clear to the salesman (my wife was present to attest to this). So written or verbal, it forms part of the contract.

If you are quoting verbatim then they could say that, yes, they offered factory pickup but you declined it and you would be hard put to prove in court that you had accepted.

mcat

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Spoke to the sales manager today. Decided to take option 1 and collect the car on 1st Sept. They agreed to do full cost of the B service as the good will gesture so i guess i am happy enough . The factory pick-up will just have to wait for another 2 years now.

The only bummer is that the car will be sitting in an open uncovered compound for the next month fully exposed to the elements. They tell me it has a protective coating and they fully prep it before picking up but i still have this vision of rust and mildew.

So end conclusion is that the Brooklands dealership is still a place to do business with and confirms my decision to purchase from them rather Tony Purslow of Guildford where I was originally going to place the order with. In fact, Tony Purslow is a place I do not recommend anyone and one I am going to try very hard to never do business with again. When I get time I will review them and post the reasons why they are best avoided for both sales and servicing.

UK-C200

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Glad to hear they were willing to make things right for you, and as importantly, that you are happy with your new toy.

MB paint is pretty hardy, and to be honest, I'd pass on the dealer "wash and wax" - In my experience it's very hit or miss. MB of Bromley - who specialize in AMG's - tend to do ok, but still leave a bit to be desired..

Order a Zaino kit, and have the intimate experience of washing your new toy personally. If you do the "full pull", expect to spend the better part of the day working on her, and you will appreciate the results. (Pigeon poo beads and rolls off mine!)

If you are getting a darker color car, the Z5 application really makes a difference in the depth of color and lack of swirls. Obviously, I'm a fan!

Duo-Art

mcat, good choice IMHO. Perhaps you could get a fellow enthusiast in the UK to take your car out and excersise it for you every few days. Obviously, I jest.

goldie

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You got a good deal. I have been on several automotive factory visits and, whilst they are interesting, particularly to a Production Engineer, it really doesn't relate that much to "car mechanics" - it's an assembly process after all.

Dolebludger

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mcat:

Just a question showing my ignorance of things in the UK, but why do you want to wait until Sept. to pick up your ordered car that is just waiting for you?

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The SLK -- What the SL was supposed to be.

DansSlk

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Normally registration requirements stipulate things like that.

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UK-C200

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Other than wanting a "58" rather than a "08" reg, I was thinking that he was hoping to get his new car when he returned his old with little or no overlap.

(you get "08" in the first half of the year, "58" in the second....)

Dolebludger

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DanSlk:

I know this is wandering from topic, but are you saying that if I lived in the UK, I could only register a newly-purchased car at a certain time of year?

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The SLK -- What the SL was supposed to be.

Tslick

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Mcat, why are you tagging your car in England in lieu of Switzerland?

dltslk

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